Method for conducting a tournament of games of chance

ABSTRACT

A method for conducting a tournament and event consisting of a plurality of tournaments includes conducting at least one game of chance and tracking at least one chance event that may occur in the game of chance. A tournament outcome based on at least one chance event is generated independent of the game outcome. Optionally, the tournament outcome is generated by ranking the players relative to one another based on tracked chance events. Optionally, a plurality of chance events are tracked for each player and the tournament outcome may be generated by defining a weighting for each chance event and calculating a ranking for each player in the tournament based on a weighted score of the tracked chance events and the defined weighting. A tournament reward is issued to at least one of the players based on the tournament outcome independent of the game outcome.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/106,262, entitled “Method for Conducting aTournament of Games of Chance,” filed Apr. 18, 2008 by Applicant herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods for conducting tournaments andevents. More particularly, the present invention includes a method forconducting a tournament for players of a game of chance in which thetournament outcome is independent of the game outcome(s) and a methodfor conducting an event consisting of such tournaments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known in the art to devise tournaments to allow competition ingames that typically do not allow for competition. For example, infishing, tournaments have been devised, such as that shown in Byrne,U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,740, which create a framework within which anessentially non-competitive skill-based sport can played competitively.In Byrne, for example, an angler is rated based on a number of differentvariables that depend either upon factors under the angler's control,such as the number of fishing trips and length of time spent fishing oneach trip, or factors that are related to the angler's skill, such asthe size or weight of fish caught in comparison to existing worldrecords.

Other rating systems exist in which skill is a central component. Forexample, Saidakovsky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,997, discloses a ratingsystem for video gamers in which the role of skill is emphasized and therole of chance is minimized or eliminated. Specifically, Saidakovskyapplies a formula to a player's earned score to generate a final scorethat rewards skillful play. Such a formula tends to emphasize skillfactors such as the time to finish a game, the difficulty of the game,and number of moves used in the game.

Similar to Saidakovsky, Graepel, U.S. Pat. No. 7,050,868, discloses asystem for ranking a player based on the player's skill in a skill-basedvideo game. The rating tracks the progress or standing of each player inthe gaming environment so that evenly ranked players can be matched upfor future games. Saidakovsky, Graepel, and Byrne are similar in thattheir dependence on skill precludes the application of such tournamentmethods to games of chance.

In games of chance, the typical tournament is based on the outcome ofthe game of chance. For example, in a slot tournament, each player'sslot machine is loaded with a predetermined starting bankroll. Atournament session is conducted in which all players simultaneously playthe slot machines, with winnings being credited to the bankroll andlosses being deducted from the bankroll. The winner is determined bycomparing the final bankrolls of the players. The player who had thegreatest net difference between his winning outcomes and losingoutcomes, i.e. the player who had the greatest net winnings, is thewinner.

A bingo game, which can be analogized to a type of tournament, alsodepends on the outcome of the game. That is, of the many players in abingo game, the winning player is the first player who obtains anoutcome on his or her bingo card that matches a predefined pattern.Thus, the winner of the bingo “tournament” is the player who obtains awinning game outcome. While there are methods employed to designate asecond place player, a third place player, and so forth, these methodsinclude the calling of additional numbers after a bingo has occurred,with the lower rankings being awarded to the ensuing players to obtain abingo. In other words, the second place player would be the secondplayer to obtain a game-winning outcome of a bingo, the third placeplayer would be the third player to obtain a game-winning outcome of abingo, and so forth.

It can be seen, therefore, that there is a need in the art for atournament applied to a game of chance which produces a tournamentoutcome that is based on chance, rather than skill, and is independentof the outcome of the game of chance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a method of conducting a tournament for aplurality of players. A tournament includes a plurality of games ofchance that is conducted for the players. It is contemplated that theplayers may play simultaneously or may play separately. Similarly, it iscontemplated that the games of chance within a tournament may beconducted using a single set of base rules, i.e. the same type of game,or using multiple different sets of base rules, i.e. different types ofgames.

The games of chance include at least one chance event. As described ingreater detail below, a chance event is an event over which the playerexercises no control and which is uninfluenced by the skill of theplayer. For example, where each game of chance results in a game outcomein the form of a win or loss of game credits, a chance event may includea score based, at least in part, on the net win or loss of game creditsover multiple games of chance. In this regard, the chance event is bothoutside the player's control and independent of any single game outcome.

The chance event(s) is tracked for each player. A tournament outcomebased on the tracked chance events is generated independent of any onegame outcome. In an optional embodiment, the tournament outcome includesa ranking of at least a portion of the players relative to one another.

A tournament reward is issued to at least one of the players based onthe tournament outcome independent of the game outcome.

In another aspect of the present invention, an event is conducted for aplurality of players. The event includes conducting a plurality oftournaments. Optionally, each tournament includes conducting a pluralityof games of chance for the players. The plurality of games of chanceinclude at least one chance event and generate a plurality of gameoutcomes. In one optional embodiment, the game of chance is conductedaccording to base rules. In one such optional embodiment, all the gamesof chance within a tournament (or, optionally, across tournaments) arethe same game or same type of game. In another such optional embodiment,one or more of the tournaments include multiple different games ofchance, e.g. different games of chance conducted according to differentbase rules. In yet another optional embodiment, the games of chance areuniform within each tournament, but the games differ from tournament totournament. It is contemplated that the players may play simultaneouslyor may play separately in time and/or location.

The chance event is tracked for the players. A tournament outcome isgenerated based on the chance event independent of any one of the gameoutcomes. For example, in an optional embodiment, the game outcome is awinning or losing game outcome. In one such optional embodiment, thechance event may be a score over multiple game outcomes that isindependent of any single game outcome. For example, in one optionalembodiment, a score may relate to a net gain or loss of game creditsover multiple games of chance.

Optionally, a tournament outcome includes a ranking of at least aportion of the players relative to one another based on the trackedchance event. In one such optional embodiment, play is terminated forplayers lacking a predetermined ranking according to the tournamentoutcome such that terminated players are ineligible for a subsequenttournament in the event. In an additional or alternative optionalembodiment, a tournament reward is issued to at least one of the playersbased on the tournament outcome. An election is received from the playerto retain the tournament reward or stake at least a portion of thetournament reward in at least one subsequent tournament.

An event outcome is generated based on at least one of the tournamentoutcomes across the plurality of tournaments. Optionally, the eventoutcome is based on the cumulative tournament outcomes across theplurality of tournaments. In an optional embodiment, an event reward isissued to at least one of the players based on the event outcome.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION

Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are referred toby like numerals throughout. Referring generally to FIGS. 1 and 2, thepresent invention includes various embodiments of a method forconducting a tournament in a game of chance. The tournament method maybe applied to any type of game of chance. Thus, although examples aregiven below describing embodiments of a tournament method applied tospecific games, these examples should be interpreted as illustrativerather than limiting. In particular, the method may be applied to gamesof chance, such as match games like lottery, raffle, pull-tab, bingo,keno, roulette, or the like or dice games like craps, sic bo, or thelike, in which a plurality of players play a common game of chancesimultaneously. Likewise, the method may be applied to games of chance,such as slot games, video card games, card games, or the like, in whichplayers may play a common game or may play separate games. Similarly, itis contemplated that where players may play separate games, players mayplay substantially the same game of chance or may play different gamesof chance in the tournament. Additionally, it is contemplated that thetournament may be conducted to a single game of chance or over multiplegames of chance.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present method includes conducting 102at least one game of chance for players. As mentioned above, anddiscussed in greater detail below, the method may include conducting asingle game of chance, as shown in FIG. 1, or conducting multiple gamesof chance, as shown in FIG. 2, for players by, for example, playersplaying separate games (such as in a tournament directed to slot gamesin which each player plays a slot game on a separate slot machine) orplayers playing a common game multiple times. In either case, additionalgames of chance 112 are conducted until the tournament is completed,e.g. a particular event occurs, a specified quantity of games isconducted, a specified amount of time elapses, or the like. In such anoptional embodiment, it is contemplated that players may playsimultaneously, or at different times or over different time segments.For example, a method according to an optional embodiment of the presentinvention would permit players to participate in a tournament even ifthe players played the game or games of chance at different times, viadifferent media, e.g. paper cards, Internet, kiosk, gaming machine, orthe like, or at different locations, e.g. at different locations withina casino, at different casinos, at different locations other than acasino, or the like. In such an optional embodiment, the occurrence of adesignated chance event (described in greater detail below) is trackedfor each player so that a tournament outcome can be generated across allthe participating players.

In an optional embodiment, consideration may be received from playersfor participation in the tournament. In an alternate optionalembodiment, the tournament may be conducted as a promotion with noconsideration required for participation. Where consideration isreceived 100, the consideration may be cast as a wager, or a tournamententry fee, or the like. As may be appreciated, the basis on which theconsideration, if assessed, is calculated. For example, theconsideration could be a flat fee or wager, a fee or wager based on theamount of participation (such as a fee or wager assessed per hand, percard, per pay line, or the like) or any other type of fee. It iscontemplated that the consideration may be monetary or non-monetary,such as player points. Where the tournament includes multiple games ofchance (either multiple different games of chance or multiple iterationsof a single game of chance) a fee or wager may be received for each gameof chance, or a single fee or wager may be assessed for all games ofchance within the tournament.

With reference generally to FIGS. 1 and 2, the game of chance includesat least one chance event and produces 110 a game outcome. As previouslymentioned, the present invention may be applied to any game of chance.For example, the invention may be applied to a slot game in which thegame outcome occurs when reel symbols are selected to one or more paylines, a card or tile game in which one or more player hands are dealtand the game outcome occurs when the player hands are compared to oneanother, a dealer or banker hand, or a standard such as a pay table, amatch game such as bingo, keno, roulette, or the like in which a gameoutcome is generated when a selection set is compared to a player set, adice game in which a game outcome occurs when the roll of a die ormultiple dice is compared to a player-selected prediction orproposition, or the like. of a player selection in a game such asroulette or keno; or any other chance event that may occur.

Alternatively, the chance events may be related to the game outcomesover a series of games, while independent of any single game outcome.Thus, in one example, the game outcome is a winning or losing gameoutcome, e.g. a winning or losing hand, a winning or losing reel symbolcombination, a winning pattern on a Bingo card, a winning number ofmatches in Keno, or the like. In one such optional embodiment, thechance event may optionally be a score related to the winning or losingoutcomes without being dependent on any single game outcome. Forexample, in one such example, a game outcome may relate to a gain orloss of game credits. In one such optional embodiment, the chance eventmay optionally be a score based, at least in part, on the net gamecredits won or lost over the plurality of games of chance. Thus, in onesuch optional embodiment, the score may be proportional (including aone-to-one relationship) to the net game credits won or lost over aplurality of games of chance so that the chance event is the chance thatthe player can obtain gain more credits in winning game outcomes thanthe player loses in losing game outcomes.

In another example, a score may be based, at least in part, on the gameoutcome in a selected subset (whether deliberately or randomly selected)of a plurality of games so that the chance event is the chance that theplayer obtained winning game outcomes in the games of the subset. Forexample, the score may be the net game credits won or lost in everyfifth game, e.g. the fifth game, tenth game, fifteenth game, etc., overa plurality of games in a tournament.

In yet another example, the score is based, at least in part, on aweighted average or weighted sum of game outcomes within a tournament sothat the chance event is the chance that the player obtained, onbalance, winning outcomes to outweigh losing outcomes. It iscontemplated that the weighting may be deliberately or randomlydetermined and may be made express to, or may be kept secret from, theplayer.

One or more chance events are tracked 104 for each player over thecourse of the tournament. Based on tracked chance events, a tournamentoutcome is generated 106. Since chance events are not directly relatedto the game outcome, the tournament outcome is independent of any singlegame outcome. In other words, in a method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, a player's position in the tournament outcomedoes not necessarily relate to that player's game outcome(s) obtained inthe course of the tournament. That is not to say that a player with awinning game outcome will not be rewarded; in an optional embodiment, aplayer with a winning game outcome may be rewarded for that gameoutcome. However, the rewards issued 108 to players based on thetournament outcome will be independent of any single game outcomes andthat player will not necessarily be rewarded in the tournament merelybecause the player obtained a winning game outcome. Rather, for a playerwith a winning game outcome to be rewarded in the tournament, the playermust also have a tournament outcome eligible for a tournament reward.

In an optional embodiment, the tournament outcome is merely a singledesignated winner who is rewarded. In another optional embodiment, theplayers are ranked relative to one another and the players are rewardedin descending order, e.g. first place, second place, and so forth.

For example, in an optional embodiment applied to bingo, a number ofchance events may be tracked in the course of one or more bingo games.In this example, tracked chance events include the number of incompletepatterns which were one match away from a predefined pattern when abingo occurs. In an example game in which a first player obtains a bingowith two other incomplete patterns within one match of a bingo, a secondplayer has one incomplete pattern within one match of a bingo when thebingo occurs, and a third player has four incomplete patterns within onematch of a bingo when the bingo occurs, the tournament outcome may looksubstantially as shown in Table 1:

TABLE 1 Player Number of Incomplete Patterns Tournament Outcome Thirdplayer 4 First place First player 2 Second place Second player 1 Thirdplace

In the example game summarized in Table 1, the third player may berewarded for winning the tournament, while the first player may (or maynot) be rewarded for having a winning game outcome. As previouslymentioned, multiple players may be rewarded in a tournament. If such anoptional embodiment were employed in the example of Table 1, perhaps thefirst player would be rewarded for obtaining second place in thetournament, regardless of whether he or she is also rewarded forobtaining a winning game outcome.

In an optional embodiment, multiple chance events may be tracked in thecourse of a game in a tournament. In one such optional embodiment, acalculation may be defined to account for each chance event that istracked. For example, in an optional embodiment, weights may be assignedto each chance event, and the tournament outcome may be determined usinga formula that produces a weighted score or weighted average accountingfor each chance event based on its defined weighting.

Thus, in a variation on the example given in Table 1, tracked chanceevents may include the number of incomplete patterns that are one matchfrom completion at the time the game ends, e.g. a bingo occurs, and theratio of cards with at least one incomplete pattern within one matchfrom completion (also known as “cased” cards). In one such example, theratio of the cased cards is the weighting that is used to generate a“weighted score” by multiplying the ratio of cased cards by the numberof incomplete patterns. In an example of such a game, a first player mayobtain a bingo at a point where a first player has eight incompletepatterns across six cards (three of which are cased), a second playerhas nine incomplete patterns across five cards (four of which arecased), an a third player has nine incomplete patterns across four cards(three of which are cased). In such an example, the tournament outcomemay look substantially like that shown in Table 2:

TABLE 2 Number of Incomplete Ratio of Cards Weighted Tournament PlayerPatterns “Cased” Score Outcome Second player 9 4/5 7.20 First placeThird player 9 3/4 6.75 Second place First player 8 3/6 4.00 Third place

In the example of Table 2, the second player has a first placetournament outcome, which is independent of the first player's winninggame outcome.

Where a tournament consists of multiple games of chance, such as thatshown in FIG. 2, a chance event may be tracked over the multiple games.That is, as the games of chance are conducted, at least one chance eventused to determine the tournament outcome is tracked. In one suchoptional embodiment, a chance event may be selected to reflectconsistency rather than rare occurrences such as big wins. For example,in a card or tile game tournament, a tracked chance event may be thenumber of showdowns reached. In this manner, the player who consistentlyreached the final comparison would be rewarded, even if the playerfailed to amass the greatest quantity of chips at the end of thetournament. For example, in a card or tile game tournament in which atotal of ten games were played a first player may reach eight showdowns,a second player (who amasses the greatest quantity of chips at the endof the ten games) may reach five showdowns, a third player may reachfour showdowns, and a fourth player may reach six showdowns. In such anexample, the tournament outcome may look substantially like that shownin Table 3:

TABLE 3 Player Number of Showdowns Tournament Outcome First player 8First place Fourth player 6 Second place Second player 5 Third placeThird player 4 Fourth place

Thus, in this example, the first player obtains first place in thetournament even though the second player (who finished in third place inthe tournament) was the “chip winner.” In this manner, the tournamentoutcome is independent of the individual game outcomes.

A reward is issued to at least one player based on the tournamentoutcome. As previously mentioned, in an optional embodiment, multipleplayers may be rewarded based on the player's rank or rating in thetournament outcome. The reward may take any form, such as a monetaryprize, an in-kind prize (for example, a good or service, player points,or entry into other tournaments), or the like. In an optionalembodiment, the rating (or player points awarded based on the rating)may be accumulated over time to provide a rating over multipletournaments. For example, a player with two “first place” ratings and a“second place” rating over three tournaments could claim a highercumulative rating than a player with a “first place” rating, a “secondplace” rating, and a “third place” rating over three tournaments.

It is contemplated that non-players of the game of chance may alsoparticipate in the tournament. In other words, in an optionalembodiment, a participant in the tournament may not be required to be aplayer of the game of chance. For example, in one optional embodiment,wagers may be received from non-players of a tournament and chanceevents may be tracked for that non-player participant. Tracked chanceevents for non-player participants may be generated by one of theplayers of the game of chance, e.g. a designated player's bingo card(s),a common game shared among multiple non-player participants, e.g. acommunity bingo card(s) for non-players, a game assigned to, or selectedby, the non-player participant that is used only for generating atournament outcome for the non-player participant, and not a gameoutcome for the non-player participant, e.g. a non-player participant'sbingo card that is excluded from any rewards for a game outcome buteligible for rewards for a tournament outcome, or the like. In one suchoptional embodiment, non-player participants may be included withplayers in an overall tournament outcome, or may be separated fromplayers to produce separate tournament outcomes for non-playerparticipants and players.

Referring to FIG. 3, multiple tournaments may be conducted 302 in anevent. That is, in an optional embodiment, a tournament may be made upof multiple games of chance, and an event may be made up of multipletournaments. As above, the tournaments may include multiple iterationsof a single type of game or single or multiple plays of different typesof games. Similarly, each tournament may be directed to the same game,e.g. a Bingo event includes multiple Bingo tournaments, or differenttournaments may be directed to different games, e.g. a “pentathlon”event may include a Bingo tournament, a Keno tournament, a slottournament, a poker tournament, and a Blackjack tournament. As above,the tournaments may be conducted for all players simultaneously orplayers may be permitted to enter and play at different times and/orlocations from other competitors in the events and/or tournaments.

The tournaments may be conducted 302 in any manner discussed above.Specifically, one or more chance events are tracked over the games ofchance within a tournament. As discussed above, the chance events may berelate to the individual game or may be cumulative over a plurality ofgames. A tournament outcome 304 independent of any one game outcome isgenerated based on the chance event(s). In conducting the event, theprocess is repeated 312 until the tournaments within the event areconducted.

In conducting the tournaments, the tournaments or the event mayconducted as promotional with no wagering or entry fee required. Forexample, a player may be rewarded with participation in an event for apredetermined level of play or induced into a casino with a free entryinto an event.

In another optional embodiment, a wager or entry fee may be received 300for the event. It is contemplated that the wager or entry fee may berelated only to the event or may be related to a separate game,tournament, or event. For example, in one such optional embodiment, theplayer may be permitted to buy entry into an event by paying a premiumin another game.

In yet another optional embodiment, a wager or entry fee may be receivedfor each individual tournament within an event. That is, in an optionalembodiment, one of the conditions for participation in a tournamentwithin an event may be that a wager is received for the tournament orfor the games of chance within the tournament. In one optionalembodiment, the tournaments may be interrelated in the wagering. Forexample, as discussed above, each tournament may include a tournamentoutcome and a tournament reward. In one such optional embodiment, aplayer receiving a tournament reward may be permitted to stake thetournament reward from one tournament on a separate tournament. That is,the player may elect to use a tournament reward from one tournament asthe wager (or to supplement a wager) for another tournament within theevent. In a related embodiment, the player may be required to elect toaccept the tournament reward or forfeit the tournament reward inexchange for continuing in the event.

An event outcome may be generated 306 based on one or more of thetournament outcomes. In this sense, the event is a tournament oftournaments. The event outcome may be generated in many different ways.For example, in an optional embodiment in which tournament outcomesinclude rankings of players, the event outcome may be a composite orcumulative ranking based on the rankings within individual tournamentoutcomes. Thus, a player who ranks first in each of five tournamentoutcomes within an event would be ranked first in an event outcome. Forplayers in an event in which the tournament outcomes are less uniform,the rankings could be determined in many different ways. For example,the rankings could be based on the number of first place finishes intournament outcomes, the player's ranking in a specific tournamentoutcome, the overall sum of rankings in tournament outcomes, a weightedsum of rankings in tournament outcomes, an average ranking in thetournament outcomes, a weighted average ranking in the tournamentoutcomes, or the like.

In an additional or alternative optional embodiment in which tournamentoutcomes include a score (in place of, or in addition to, a ranking),the event outcome may be a composite or cumulative score based on thescores within individual tournament outcomes. For example, the rankingscould be based on the player's score in an individual tournamentoutcome, the overall sum of scores in tournament outcomes, a weightedsum of scores in tournament outcomes, an average score in the tournamentoutcomes, a weighted average score in the tournament outcomes, or thelike.

In an optional embodiment, the event may be conducted such that playersare eliminated at one or more points during the event. For example,where one or more of the tournament outcomes include a ranking ofplayers, as discussed in greater detail above, players who lack apredetermined ranking may be eliminated from continued play in theevent, i.e. eliminated from play in subsequent tournaments in the event.For example, an event may consist of five tournaments, with playersfinishing in the bottom half of each tournament being eliminated fromthe event.

An event reward is issued 308 to at least one player based on the eventoutcome. The event reward may take any form, including forms such ascash, game credits, “free play,” player loyalty points, entry into othertournaments or events, or the like.

While certain embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed it is to be understood that the present invention is subjectto many modifications and changes without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention presented herein.

1. A method of conducting a tournament for a plurality of playerscomprising: conducting a plurality of games of chance for said players,said games of chance including at least one chance event, said games ofchance generating a plurality of game outcomes; tracking said at leastone chance event for each said player; generating a tournament outcomebased on said at least one chance event independent of any one of saidgame outcomes; and issuing a tournament reward to at least one of saidplayers based on said tournament outcome independent of any one of saidgame outcomes.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein each said game outcomeis a win or loss of game credits and said chance event is a score based,at least in part, on said net game credits won or lost over saidplurality of games of chance.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said stepof generating a tournament outcome comprises ranking said playersrelative to one another based on said tracked chance events and saidstep of issuing said tournament reward comprises rewarding at least oneof said players based on said ranking.
 4. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid step of conducting a game of chance comprises conducting a commongame of chance simultaneously for said plurality of players.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said step of conducting a game of chancecomprises conducting a separate game of chance for each player.
 6. Amethod of conducting an event for a plurality of players comprising:conducting a plurality of tournaments, each said tournament comprising:conducting a plurality of games of chance for said players, saidplurality of games of chance including at least one chance event, saidplurality of games of chance generating a plurality of game outcomes;tracking said at least one chance event for each said player; andgenerating a tournament outcome based on said at least one chance eventindependent of any one of said game outcomes; generating an eventoutcome based on at least one of said tournament outcomes across saidplurality of tournaments; and issuing an event reward to at least one ofsaid players based on said event outcome.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein said step of generating a tournament outcome comprises rankingat least a portion of said players relative to one another based on saidat least one tracked chance event.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein eachtournament further comprises terminating play for players lacking apredetermined ranking according to said tournament outcome such thatterminated players are ineligible for a subsequent tournament in saidevent.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein each said game outcome is a winor loss of game credits and said chance event is a score based, at leastin part, on said net game credits won or lost over said plurality ofgames of chance.
 10. The method of claim 6 wherein said step ofconducting a game of chance comprises conducting a common game of chancesimultaneously for said plurality of players.
 11. The method of claim 6wherein said step of conducting a game of chance comprises conducting aseparate game of chance for each player.
 12. The method of claim 6wherein each said game of chance is conducted according to base rulesand said step of conducting said plurality of tournaments comprisesconducting at least two different games of chance according to differentbase rules in at least one of said tournaments.
 13. The method of claim6 wherein each said game of chance is conducted according to base rulesand said step of conducting said plurality of tournaments comprisesconducting at least a first tournament and a second tournament differentfrom said first tournament, such that the games of chance conductedwithin said first tournament are conducted according to different baserules from the games of chance within said second tournament.
 14. Amethod of conducting an event for a plurality of players comprising:serially conducting a plurality of tournaments, each said tournamentcomprising: conducting a plurality of games of chance for said players,said plurality of games of chance including at least one chance event,said plurality of games of chance generating a plurality of gameoutcomes; tracking said at least one chance event for each said player;and generating a tournament outcome based on said at least one chanceevent independent of any one of said game outcomes, said tournamentoutcome including a ranking of at least a portion of said playersrelative to one another; and terminating play for players lacking apredetermined ranking according to said tournament outcome such thatterminated players are excluded from any subsequent tournaments in saidevent; generating an event outcome based on said cumulative tournamentoutcomes across said plurality of tournaments; and issuing an eventreward to at least one of said players based on said event outcome. 15.The method of claim 14 wherein each said game outcome is a win or lossof game credits and said chance event is a score based, at least inpart, on said net game credits won or lost over said plurality of gamesof chance.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of conducting agame of chance comprises conducting a common game of chancesimultaneously for said plurality of players.
 17. The method of claim 14wherein said step of conducting a game of chance comprises conducting aseparate game of chance for each player.
 18. The method of claim 14wherein each said game of chance is conducted according to base rulesand said step of conducting said plurality of tournaments comprisesconducting at least two different games of chance according to differentbase rules in at least one of said tournaments.
 19. The method of claim14 wherein each said game of chance is conducted according to base rulesand said step of conducting said plurality of tournaments comprisesconducting at least a first tournament and a second tournament differentfrom said first tournament, such that the games of chance conductedwithin said first tournament are conducted according to different baserules from the games of chance within said second tournament.
 20. Themethod of claim 14 wherein said step of conducting each said tournamentfurther comprises: issuing a tournament reward to at least one of saidplayers based on said tournament outcome; and receiving from said playeran election to retain said tournament reward or stake at least a portionof said tournament reward in at least one subsequent tournament.